If I Needed Someone
by shmalligator
Summary: If I needed anyone, I'm sure it would be you. JohnnyxOC.
1. Prologue

**Prologue.**

There are things that kind of mark a period in your life sometimes. For Soda, maybe high school was marked by Sandy. For Steve, maybe the smell of oil from auto shop every day. And for me, I can chronicle the coming and going of Sam with the Beatles. No matter what was happening, the Beatles were there, and they seemed to know just how I felt. But then again, maybe it wasn't the Beatles. Maybe it was her. The first time I saw her, I mean.. I saw her, and I knew I was sure to fall. But the climb was rough, so the fall could get ugly.

* * *

Prologue's not very good; I would suggest reading the first chapter for an accurate example of the rest of the story.  
Or better yet, read the whole thing. :) 


	2. I'm A Loser

Chapter One  
**I'm A Loser  
**_I'm a loser,  
and I'm not what I appear to be._

Johnny Cade had not been mad, or even terribly surprised, when he got his sophomore schedule and saw that he had been placed in LD classes. He wouldn't have minded much at all if they'd at least told him, but being that they hadn't said a word, he figured it was some sort of mistake. So instead of going to his period one Special Ed Geometry class, he went to the main office. As soon as he opened the door, he could tell that everyone in the room was thinking the same thing: _Not even five minutes into the school year and the Greaser is already in trouble._ He tried to ignore it, and he might have been able to had he not seen that look countless times before; that kind of "you're lower than the dirt under my shoe" look isn't one that you really warm up to.

He stood at the desk and waited for almost ten minutes for one of the office aids to help him. He was very seriously considering leaving and simply accepting his LD adorned fate when he finally heard footsteps. He looked up to a girl who looked vaguely familiar coming out of the principal's office, holding a clipboard and a stack of files. For a minute, he was startled by her. She looked like a ghost, all airy and light. With her long white-blond hair and very pale skin, she was almost colorless except for big, watery green eyes. She was not pretty at all.

She stopped and stared at Johnny for a very long minute before saying, "Is there anything I can do for you?" Her voice was soft but very clear. He suddenly realized that she was a Soc, dressed in her cheerleading uniform: a navy blue sweater with a big yellow "T" on it (Go, Tulsa Titans!) and pleated white skirt. Though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he was intimidated.

"Uh, my schedule… it says I was put in LD classes?"

She stared at him, her light eyebrows disappearing under her bangs.

"But, uh, nobody told me about it or anything, so I figured it was a mistake."

"Maybe your notice got lost or something. What's your name?"

He frowned. He was irritated that she really thought-- no, was really _convinced_ that he was in Special Ed. Probably just because he was a known Greaser, and looked like one, too, but it was still a little irking.

"Johnny Cade," he mumbled, knowing that he was very red. "But I really think there's a mistake." Her disbelief fueled his persistance.

Ignoring him, she pulled out his file (which, by the way, had been in her stack; _Why was she carrying my file?_ he wondered silently.) and flipped through it. She stopped suddenly and her cheeks turned pink. "Oh. I think we sent you Johnny Cadman's schedule." Johnny's face became even redder. Johnny Cadman was one of the dopiest kids at Tulsa High.

"I'm so sorry," she said, frantically flipping through his file again. "Can you wait here for a couple more minutes? I have to fix it. What classes were you supposed to take?"

He listed off his classes, a little ashamed that they didn't make him sound smart. He thought of his best buddy, Ponyboy Curtis, and wished he had Pony's brains. She held up her pointer finger to tell him to wait, and then scurried back into the principal's office. Johnny sat down on one of the stiff wooden chairs, assuming it would be a while. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and he was tired. He started to doze off in the chair.

"Hey, Johnnycake!" Johnny woke with a start. He looked up at the clock; it had only been five minutes.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" he asked Two-Bit, who plopped himself in the seat beside Johnny.

"Got in trouble."

"Already?"

"Yeah, well, that stupid Mrs. Burns is a little- hey, Toucan!"

Johnny turned to see the blonde girl coming from the office. She stopped like a deer in headlights. At first, Johnny couldn't figure out that nickname- Toucan. But then it caught his eye; how had he not seen it before? Her nose was huge. She frowned at Two-Bit and handed Johnny his revised schedule. Two-Bit was laughing at himself, like always, but Johnny had the urge to shove a sock in his friend's mouth. Ducking her head, she disappeared through another door that lead to what one could assume was some sort of lounge. Soon after, another girl came out to deal with Two-bit.

***

"Johnny, eat something," said Soda, walking by the couch where Johnny was sitting.

"We're about to have dinner. I didn't cook, so you don't have to worry." He grinned. Soda knew he wasn't the greatest chef in the world.

"If you're sure you made enough," Johnny said hesitantly, standing up.

"Don't worry about it, Johnnyboy. I got it covered," he said, messing up Johnny's hair before moving on to set the table. Normally, he hated people messing up his hair, but he didn't mind it so much when the Curtises did it. As far as Johnny was concerned, the Curtis family could do no wrong. "Come take a seat."

Johnny sat down across from Pony with Darry and Soda sitting on the ends. All of the boys took huge helpings of everything and dug right in.

"How was your first day, Pony? Johnny?" asked Darry through a mouth full of potatoes.

"Fine," Johnny mumbled. Pony looked at Johnny; he was the only person who knew about Johnny's LD incident. He broke into a grin.

"What?" asked Soda, looking from Johnny to Pony. Pony burst into giggles and Johnny turned red. "Well, Johnny got put in Special Ed."

Everyone's heads snapped to their little dark friend. _Thanks, Pony._

"Special Ed?" Darry echoed after a short pause. Johnny turned an even deeper shade of crimson. "Not really. I got sent the wrong schedule."

"Ohh, I see," came a chorus of the Curtises. Johnny prepared to attack Pony after dinner.

"Oh, the Doles are coming over for dinner on Saturday," said Darry, making a smooth transition that Johnny was thankful for. "Jim called last night to tell me he'd be in town this weekend," he said.

Darry and the oldest Dole son, Jimmy, were best friends, but hardly ever got to see each other because Jimmy went to Arizona State.

"Are all of them coming over?" asked Soda, his ears perking up. The Dole family and Curtis family had been good friends for a long time, mostly because of Darry and Jimmy. "Lucy, Sam, and Lydia, too?"

"Yep," Darry said.

"I haven't seen Sam in a while," said Soda excitedly. Though Soda was a little older than Sam, the middle daughter, they had always naturally been close. Lydia, the youngest daughter, and Pony were the same age, as were Darry, Lucy, and Jim, so Sam and Soda always hung out together. They were good friends, but hardly ever saw each other now that Soda had dropped out of school.

While the three brother buzzed excitedly about their friends, Johnny sat feeling confused. As long as he'd been friends with the Curtis brothers, he had never once met the Doles. Their school was relatively big, so he'd never seen any of them (he didn't think, anyway). He supposed he would just have to wait and see.

* * *

**AN:** _Here it is, the revamped first chapter. =) Feel freee to comment, critique, give me any ideas or thoughts you have. I appreciate your feedback.  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for the Tulsa Titans and any characters that don't appear in the book._


	3. With A Little Help From My Friends

Chapter Two  
**With A Little Help From My Friends  
**_I get by with a little help from my friends.  
I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.  
_

"-AND STAY OUT!"

It was not an unordinary Saturday for Johnny thus far. His weekend mornings often started off this way; as in, being yelled at for breathing the same air as his dad, acquiring a new bruise, and ending up on the front step. The only thing special about today was that he had not made an escape as usual, but rather had been literally thrown out. He learned not to take it entirely personally. He landed with a thud and, hurt, looked up into the face of his father who glared and slammed the door. A long sigh heaved out of his body and he dragged himself to his feet, brushing off his jeans. His cheek stung where he'd been hit and he knew he'd have a new bruise in no time. Fantastic.

He wandered around Tulsa for a while. He could have gone to the Curtis house, but he'd been there an awful lot lately, mostly because his mother and father had both been drinking a lot. He was passing by the dime store when the door burst open and a tall, formidable figure stepped out into the light.

"Hey, Johnny," the deep voice drawled. Johnny smiled.

"Hey, Dal."

Dally glanced behind him into the store and his eyes widened. He nudged Johnny's back, saying, "Go."

Johnny took off running without hesitation, though he didn't know why. Dally was right behind him, constantly prodding his back to urge him on faster. Behind them, Johnny could faintly hear the owner of the store shouting, "Get back here with my stuff, you hoodlums!" He began to jog after them, but Dally took a sharp turn into an alley that Johnny quickly followed. The man's eyesight was apparently not what it used to be, because he ran right past them. Smirking, Dally left the alley and headed back in the direction of the dime store. "The guy's gonna be running for fifteen minutes before he knows we've lost him," Dally explained coolly, taking out a new pack of cigarettes, presumably ones he had stolen. He lit one and handed it to Johnny, then lit one for himself.

"So what're you doin', man?" Dally asked as casually as if they had just been walking in the park instead of running from a disgruntled shopkeeper.

"Taking a walk," he replied quietly after taking a drag of his cigarette.

"You busy?" asked Dally, looking not at Johnny, but straight ahead instead.

"No. Why?"

"I got in another argument with Tim. We're supposed to race at noon. Wanna tag along? The rest of the gang's gonna be there."

Johnny shrugged. It's better than going home, he thought, so he agreed.

"Whose car are you going to use?"

"Two-Bit's."

"Didn't it break down again yesterday?"

"Soda and Steve fixed it up for him."

They walked on, smoking and chattering idly about nothing, making their way towards Borden Avenue. Borden Avenue was completely empty because the houses were so old and nobody wanted them. It was because of this that Greasers and Socs alike used it when they wanted to race and all of the other good places were taken.

Dally glanced down at Johnny and studied him for a moment before noticing his new bruise.

"Hey, what happened to your face?"

"Aw, nothin'," Johnny replied, casting his eyes towards the ground.

Dally knew exactly what had happened. It was those goddamn parents, he thought, feeling a swell of hate towards the Cades. He just couldn't see what would make someone want to hit Johnny, of all people, who never did anything to anyone. He seethed inwardly. Johnny tossed down the finished cigarette and stomped it out. Dally, in his own way of consoling a friend, grabbed Johnny in a headlock and messed up his hair. Once he let him go, he handed him another cigarette and a match saying, "Hang in there, kid."

Johnny grinned gratefully and lit the cigarette. "Thanks, man."

They reached Borden Avenue in a matter of minutes, right as Dally's stolen watch hit noon. Everyone else was standing around, looking absolutely carefree. Johnny wondered if they were as calm as they looked, because he certainly wasn't. Johnny joined the rest of the gang while Dally made his way towards Tim Shepard's gang. Probably to gloat in his uninterested but brazen way.

"Hey, Johnny," Ponyboy said, waving. The other boys turned and greeted him and he nodded in general hello. Sylvia, who was apparently dating Dally again (Johnny never knew with those two), smiled coyly at Johnny. Johnny looked away from her. He tried to avoid Sylvia when he could; there had been a time when she'd been hanging onto him when Dally was in jail. Since then, he'd half been scared of Steve, who'd given him a long talk about girls, and half scared of Dally, who would beat him to a pulp if he found out.

One of Tim's gang, Vince, stepped between the two cars that had moved to the starting line. Tim was hanging out of his window, but Dally was standing, leaning on Two-Bit's car.

"So here's the deal," Vince, said grabbing the attention of the two gangs. "We're racing for car ownership. The only rule is that you can't play rough or anything because, I mean, why would you want to mess up the car you're about to win? So don't crash purposely or anything stupid. The first one to the end of the road and back wins."

Everyone looked to the end of Borden Avenue. It was a huge cul-de-sac, lined with little ramshackle houses. It seemed to stretch out endlessly to Johnny.

Dally slid into the car. He looked cool and passive on the outside, like he always did, but he was shaking on the inside. He was a risk-taker, but that didn't mean he couldn't be even a little scared. Vince held up an old rag, and waited for Dally and Tim to get ready. Johnny stood to the side, chewing his nails. He didn't usually bite his nails, but he was blatantly nervous. Though Johnny knew Dally was a good driver and would likely win because of his ruthlessness, he was nervous about everything. The rest of the guys didn't look so concerned, but Johnny knew that they were.

Suddenly, the towel flew down and Dally floored it, taking off before Tim had even realized the towel was down. Once he got going, though, Tim was coming up on Dally quickly. They took turns in the lead, Dally winning out most of the time. Tim got to the end of the road first and had to swerve around Dally's car to make his way back. Dally was able to turn straight around, which put him ahead of Tim again. They were both swerving uncontrollably, and a few times it looked like they were going to collide. They didn't, though, and remained neck and neck until the checkered finish line. Both gangs were screaming and jumping; the entire road was bedlam. Finally, Dally floored it one more time and hit the finish line only seconds before Tim. Tim's whole gang groaned, kicked rocks, threw empty bottles halfheartedly towards Tim as he headed towards them, head down and defeated.

Dally, cool as can be, got out of the car and headed towards his gang, while they ran towards him, shouting praises and patting him on the back. Sylvia gave him a long, passionate kiss. Dally pulled away, grinning slightly. His one and only response was, "I knew I would win."

Once the clamor died down, Dally nonchalantly made his way towards Tim. Dally held out his hand and said something that Johnny couldn't distinguish. Tim stared at him calmly for a few moments. Then, completely out of nowhere he punched Dally square in the jaw. Dally, of course, never took a hit without payback, so he retaliated and punched Tim directly in the stomach. Before either of the gangs could get to them, it was nothing short of a brawl. Right as Johnny and everyone else reached them, Dally pushed Tim away saying, "Man, just give me the papers. I won the race, now I take your car."

"You're not taking my car, Winston. You can forget it."

"If you want to keep your teeth, I would suggest that you hand over the keys and the goddamn papers."

Tim was not willing to risk this; he knew that if he didn't oblige, he might end up in the hospital. Dally didn't bluff about that sort of thing. So slowly and disconsolately, Tim dug around in his glove compartment and handed him the ownership papers and the keys.

"I'm gonna win this car back, Dal," threatened Tim. "Don't you forget it."

Dally fixed him with an uncaring stare before he turned, shoving the papers in the pocket of his leather jacket and tossing the keys to Two-Bit's car back at him. "Thanks, man," he said, then slid into his new car. Sylvia jumped into the passenger side with another look at Johnny, and then Dally sped away.

_**AN:** Second revamped chapter. I didn't change much; just, like, two words or something. But I like it a lot more with those two words changed. =)__  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for the Tulsa Titans and any characters that don't appear in the book. I also don't own this scenario, since it's kind of stolen from Grease.__  
R&R. CC welcome and appreciated. :)_


	4. Act Naturally

Chapter Three  
**Act Naturally  
**_and all I gotta do is just act naturally._

"That was some race," Soda said, easing onto the couch, back at the Curtis house.

From the bathroom where Pony was slicking back his hair, he agreed. "Yeah, it was." Johnny made no comment, but inwardly concurred.

"Pony, are you greasing your hair?" Darry asked, coming into the living room as he tucked his black t-shirt into his jeans. He peered into the bathroom and sighed. "Go easy on the grease. Lucy'll torment you all night if you're too greasy."

"Lucy would torment him if he was too clean," Soda commented, rolling his eyes.

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway streamed through the screen door.

Johnny got up and headed for the kitchen so he could leave through the back door. He didn't want to disturb the guests. Soda's eyebrows furrowed. "Where you going, Johnny?"

"Uh... home," Johnny mumbled. Soda lifted an eyebrow.

"Why would you do that?"

"You... you have company," he said slowly.

"Naw! Stay, Johnny. You've never met them before, and you should."

The next thing he knew, the door was opening and in came the fabled Doles. Johnny watched them file in one by one, each discarding their shoes and coats.

"Hi, boys!" exclaimed the first one. He thought her voice sounded twinkly, like wind chimes or a music box. She was short and pudgy with a round face and curly dark brown hair. She had big, expressive eyes that danced when she saw the Curtis brothers.

The next was a taller, slimmer girl, who was pretty with short, straight dark brown hair. She smiled, but it wasn't as cheerful as the other girl's. He noticed that she didn't take off her shoes.

Then came a boy, taller still, with the same dark hair as the two before him. He was handsome, in an antediluvian way that was only seen in pictures of grandfathers in their younger years and war veterans. His stony face shattered into a smile when he saw Darry, whom he immediately hugged.

The last one didn't look anything like the three before her. In fact, the only family resemblance between her and them was the big, celery-green eyes which they all possessed. She was the same height as her older brother and had a thin, willowy body. Her blond hair was down, and fell just past her shoulders. Johnny couldn't help but feel like he knew her from somewhere.

Everyone was greeting one another jovially, except for Johnny, who stood off to the side. Soda, noticing this, broke the chatter by saying, "Oh, everyone, this is our friend, Johnny. Johnny, these are the Doles." They introduced themselves and Johnny discovered that the cute one was Lydia, the pretty one was Lucy, the only boy was Jim, and the last girl, the misfit, was Sam.

"Hey, Jim, come on to the kitchen with me. We've got some catching up to do," Darry said, already halfway there. As the two of them disappeared into the kitchen, Lydia and Pony immediately went to Pony's room to kill time before dinner, which left Soda, Sam, Lucy, and Johnny in the living room. Soda and Sam were having an intent discussion about the coffee table. Johnny didn't even want to know why.

"So... uh, Johnny, is it?" Lucy said to him. He looked up at her, nodding. "Right. Who are you, again?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm a friend of the Curtis's."

"Why haven't we met you before?"

Johnny had the acute feeling of being under interrogation by the Spanish Inquisition. Though this could have been taken as light conversation, Lucy carried a sort of arrogance about her. She was demanding answers, not asking for them. Johnny already knew that he didn't like her.

"I don't know," he said meekly. He never knew how to handle strangers, especially pretty female ones.

"Huh. Odd." She smiled, but it wasn't friendly. He felt like prey.

There was a cold silence. Johnny almost shivered. Apparently, Soda caught onto this, because he quickly swerved from his coffee table conversation to save his little friend. Thank God, was all Johnny could think, hoping his grateful expression relayed the message.

"Hey, Luce, why don't you go check on what Darry and Jimbo are doing in the kitchen? See if dinner's almost ready."

Lucy leapt to her feet with amazing eagerness. "Sure!" She scuttled off into the other room happily.

Soda and Sam exchanged smirks. Soda leaned close to Johnny, as though he were sharing some enormous secret that should be held in the strictest confidence.

"Lucy's had a thing for Darry since she was twelve. If she weren't such a snob, he'd probably marry her." Johnny didn't ask why or how this made sense. He was more preoccupied with trying to figure out from where he recognized Sam.

Just as Ponyboy and Lydia made their way back into the living room, Jim poked his head out of the kitchen.

"Dinner's ready, guys!"

Everyone settled around the little table, more or less cramped. Johnny ended up between Sam and Pony, with Soda on the other side of Sam, Lydia beside Pony, and Jim, Darry, and Lucy on the other side of the table. There was hardly enough room for the food, let alone everyone's plates, but they managed. Everyone instantaneously dug right in, hardly taking time to even look at the food before them.

"So, Johnny," Lucy began. Everyone turned to Johnny, bracing themselves. Johnny looked up at her. He could feel Sam staring at his profile. "Do you go to Tulsa High?" It sounded like a friendly question, but he knew that it wasn't. He nodded.

"What grade are you in?" Ah, a question that required a response. She was clever.

"Tenth," he said quietly.

"And you're... how old?"

"Sixteen."

"And you're-"

"Shut up, Luce. Let the kid eat his dinner," Jim said through a mouth full of chicken.

"I was just wondering," Lucy said, but she shut up.

The conversation advanced to more pleasant topics that Johnny didn't join. All through dinner he could feel Sam watching him out of the corner of her eye.

* * *

After dinner, Pony and Lydia went back to Pony's room, and all of the others stationed themselves in the living room. At the first lull in conversation, Lucy turned to Johnny once more.

"So you're sixteen, you said?" At Johnny's nod, she continued. "And you're just starting tenth grade?" Another nod. "Did you start school late? That's old for just starting tenth grade."

"No," Johnny said, his cheeks burning. She knew the answer. She was testing him. But what he couldn't figure out was why. Lydia's twinkling laugh wafted from Pony's room, breaking the turgid silence.

"Lucy, leave him alone," Darry said, and she immediately shut her mouth.

"Soda, it's your turn to do the dishes," Darry said, turning the conversation elsewhere. Soda groaned, and laboriously managed to pull himself up out of his chair. He immediately sat back down. "Later," he promised.

"I'll do it," Johnny volunteered. Truthfully, he would have been willing to jump into a pit of crocodiles if it meant escaping Lucy's scrutiny. In fact, the crocodiles were looking rather docile compared to Lucy.

Soda smiled. "Hey, thanks, kid. I owe you."

"I'll help," came the clear, airy voice behind him. Johnny turned to see Sam following him into the kitchen.

"Naw, I can-" he started to object, but Sam simply smiled and headed into the kitchen before him. He glanced at Soda, who shrugged, and walked into the kitchen behind her.

When he arrived at the sink, the hot water was already running and Sam had rolled up her sleeves.

He approached her carefully. "Uh, hey, I can-"

"I'm sorry I thought you were in LD," she said abruptly, looking over at him.

Johnny stared in pure consternation and suddenly he realized where he'd seen her before. How hadn't he noticed? Her big nose, for one thing, should have given her away. Her colorless demeanor should have, too.

"It's alright," he said, taking a plate she'd already washed and drying it off with a nearby dish towel.

"Well, I just wanted to... I mean, you're a Greaser, and most of them... I mean, I know not all of them. Just look at Pony, and even Darry, but I..." She trailed off, unable to find the words to finish her sentence.

He shrugged, grinning in spite of himself. "It's fine."

She grinned back, and handed him another plate. "Well, that's why I wanted to help with the dishes. To apologize to you. What about you?" She smiled knowingly.

"Lucy," he said flatly.

"Ah. Well, I don't blame you there." She paused, and then, "Hey, I'm sorry about her, too. I mean, it's not you or anything. She's just..." She trailed off again. He merely shrugged a little. That was it. Matter dropped.

She looked up at him and caught sight of the bruise on his face. She cocked her head.

"Hey, what happened to your cheek?" she asked him, unsure of whether or not she was overstepping boundaries. She wasn't even sure why she cared; she didn't know him.

Johnny's hand flew to his cheek. To disguise it, he pretended that the bruise itched. "Nothin'," he said. The plate he was drying suddenly became very interesting, and he inspected it for spots as if his life depended on it.

She looked at him for a long time, and he had the feeling that she wasn't just looking, but seeing. Not that there was much to see that everyone in town didn't already know. Everyone knew that the Cades weren't exactly the most functional family around. They were hardly even a family.

* * *

"Bye, guys," Lydia said, grinning, as she slipped on her shoes. "I'll see y'all around." She was the first to go outside, hopping into the backseat of Jim's car. Jim followed her, sliding into the driver's side.

Lucy shrugged into her coat. "See you all later." She looked at Johnny, then, grinning that predator's grin. "Pleasure meeting you." She was next out the door. Outside, Jim honked the horn for Sam to hurry up. After she had her coat on, Sam smiled warmly at all of them.

"See you at school, Pony," she said, looking up at him. She walked over to Soda, then, and they hugged. "You had better call me," she muttered, smiling. "Since you dropped out, I never get to see you anymore." Soda promised that he would, and she stepped away from him. She looked at Johnny.

"It was nice meeting you. Sorry about... you know."

Johnny grinned and shrugged a little. "See ya."

The horn honked again, and then the sound of a car moving slowly drifted inside.

She waved and then scuttled out the door, shouting, "Jim, wait!" She giggled. "Stop the car!"

As Darry and Pony headed off to bed, Soda turned to Johnny. "They're a hell of a family, aren't they?" Johnny didn't say anything, just gave another half-shrug.

But later, as he fell asleep on the Curtis's couch, he decided that he agreed.

* * *

_**AN:** Again, I didn't edit much. I, of course, give thanks to the editor who did this chapter for me prior to my hiatus, Sparkling Mist._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for the Tulsa Titans, Lucy, Jim, Sam, and Lydia._


	5. Hey, John

* * *

Chapter Four  
**Hey, John  
**_hey, John,  
don't make it bad_.

"Man, I hate this lunchroom," Steve complained.

"Then why doncha fix my car for me?" Two-Bit suggested. Though the gang usually drove around during their lunch period, Two-Bit's car had, once again, broken down. They were stuck in the cafeteria for lunch at the broken table that none of the Socs wanted.

"Because I have other paying customers," Steve grunted, shoving his sandwich into his mouth. From beside Steve, Evie nodded with conviction. Absently, Johnny picked at the half-sandwich Pony had given him as he looked around at the lunchroom. It was dingy and ugly with too-bright fluorescent lights and chipped tiling. He wondered why most of the Socs preferred to eat there. It wasn't any nicer than anywhere else they could have gone, anyway.

As Johnny observed, his eyes landed on Sam, inattentively coming towards them. She was reading as she walked, holding her book up to her face with one hand and holding a paper bag with the other. The others at the table appeared to notice this, too, and they stopped chattering to watch her curiously (except Two-Bit, who was still talking). For some unfathomable reason, Johnny felt his cheeks flush.

She reached the table and looked up. Her eyes enlarged in surprise. She looked disoriented.

"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize someone was here already. I'll just..."

She turned to go and started off, but Pony interjected. "Sam, where are you going?" Pony asked. She turned again and grinned. "Oh, hey, Pony. I didn't see you there."

Steve and Evie were eyeing her curiously; Two-Bit and Sandy didn't even seem to notice her.

"Sit down," Pony said, pushing out a chair across from him with his foot.

Her eyes flitted around at everyone else. She hesitated, but then, "Uh, sure. Alright."

She sat down and turned to Johnny, who was right beside her.

"Hi, Johnny. How are you?"

He shrugged a little. "Fine," he grunted. After a moment's pause: "You?"

Sam opened her mouth, but did not get a chance to respond. Two-Bit, apparently jerking from his stupor at the sound of Johnny's voice, had noticed Sam and was nothing short of delighted.

"Toucan Sam! How you doin'?" he exclaimed, overly cheerful. The corners of her mouth turned down and her back stiffened.

"I'm well," she responded coldly. Johnny was fascinated by how quickly she could turn from sweet to icy. It was like Jekyll and Hyde, but less frightening.

"Eat any good Fruit Loops lately?"

"I don't like Fruit Loops," she muttered, but Two-Bit didn't hear. He apparently thought his last remark was hilarious, and was laughing to himself. Johnny, who had heard her retort, snickered quietly.

"Lay off, Two-Bit," Sandy said, frowning at him. He shrugged and stood up, digging in his pocket.

"I'm gonna go get a Coke," he declared, and he was off without further delay.

"Sorry about him. He thinks he's funny, but he's actually not," Sandy said to Sam.

Sam shrugged and her light smile returned.

"Oh, this is Steve and Evie. You know Sandy," said Pony. Steve nodded once at her and Evie waved.

There was a short silence before Sandy asked, "Are you going to be at the football game, Sam?"

Johnny highly doubted that she would be, since it appeared that she sat alone at this table when they weren't there; what was the point of going to a football game alone?

"Yes, I am," she said, pulling an apple from her lunch bag and taking a bite. A bit of juice dripped down her chin and she quickly pulled a pristine white napkin from her lunch bag to wipe it away.

"Oh, right," Evie said suddenly. "You're a cheerleader, aren't you?"

Johnny's head snapped to Sam in spite of himself. "You are?" After he said it, he realized that he'd already known she was a cheerleader, from the first day of school. She'd been wearing her uniform as she had mistakenly condemned him to Special Ed.

Her face went pink as she nodded. "Yeah," she said, staring intently at the table as she folded her used napkin into tiny bits before placing it back in the brown bag.

Suddenly, Sandy stood up, looking at her watch. "Sorry, but I have to go." She smiled warmly at Sam. "Maybe I'll see you at the game tonight, Sam."

Sam nodded, her blush beginning to fade as her grin reappeared.

Sandy scurried away quickly. When Two-Bit's car was broken, Sandy usually cut half of lunch and half of her free period, which was directly after lunch, to visit Soda at the DX. Johnny thought it was amazing that the two of them couldn't even go a whole day without seeing each other. He also thought it seemed a little codependent, but he didn't think about that part too often.

"I should be going, too," ventured Sam, standing up.

"See ya," Pony said with a full mouth, and Johnny waved once. She grinned at him, and then took off.

The bell rang just after that and the rest of the gang started to leave. Johnny was the last to stand up, and the only one to notice that Sam had left her book on the table. For a moment or two, he considered leaving it; she'd realize she didn't have it and come back to get it. But what if she didn't realize it until the janitor threw it away or put it into the abysmal void that was the lost-and-found bin? The book looked pretty new, and Johnny wouldn't want her to lose it. Judging by the position of the bookmark, it seemed like she was almost done reading it. Personally, he didn't read much, but Pony always got upset if he didn't get to find out the ending of a book. So Johnny picked it up without a glance at the title and started towards his next class.

* * *

_**AN:** Again, I changed next to nothing, just a few word choices and things. I'm pretty satisfied with most of these right now. Thanks again for Sparkling Mist's editing way back when this story was first active.  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for the Tulsa Titans and The Doles._


	6. September in the Rain

**Chapter Five  
**September in the Rain  
_oh, it's  
September in the rain._

"Frankenstein?"

For the past three blocks, Pony had been trying to figure out why Johnny was carrying a book. It wasn't that he thought Johnny was dumb or anything. Just, Johnny read about as much Two-Bit. Maybe less. Pony had finally managed to get Johnny to hand it over, and was now staring at him like he was out of his mind.

"You're reading Frankenstein?" he repeated incredulously.

"No, I'm not," Johnny said quietly. At Pony's confused, sidelong glance, he added, "It's not my book."

"Well, whose is it?" Pony demanded. He was, apparently, determined to get to the bottom of this.

"Sam's," Johnny said after a shrug.

There was silence. Pony had actually stopped walking, and since he was a little ahead of Johnny, it almost caused his friend to trip over him.

"Sam? Sam Dole?"

Johnny nodded. Pony stared for another moment, and Johnny asked, "What?"

"Why do you have Sam's book?" Pony asked suspiciously. He started to walk again. Johnny followed.

"She left it at the lunch table today," he said as though it explained the whole thing.

"So you took it?"

"I didn't want it to get lost or something."

Pony was grinning. "And when were you planning to give it back to her?"

"I was thinking I might go to the game tonight. To give it to her."

Actually, Johnny had not been thinking this. The look Pony was giving him—a bizarre mix of amusement, suspicion and disbelief—left him feeling as though he was under a spotlight. That feeling tended to send Johnny's mouth off without his brain.

Pony was silent, staring at the cover of the book. As they climbed the stairs up to Pony's porch, he tossed the book back to Johnny with a, "Huh."

Steve and Two-Bit had already arrived, and were arm wrestling in the dining room. Darry and Soda were arguing about something utterly unimportant, as usual. Johnny sat down on the couch, only mildly interested in the Mickey Mouse cartoon playing on TV.

"Who were you planning to go with?" Pony plopped down next to him, eyes on the television. Johnny had opened the book and was flipping through it, more to have something to do than out of interest.

"Er..."

"Go where?" Soda asked, swerving from his conversation with Darry to the two younger boys. Darry sent him a nasty look behind his back before stalking into the kitchen.

"Football game," Pony replied vaguely.

"You could come with me and Steve," Soda offered. "You, too, Pony."

"Can't. I got a composition for English I have to write. It has to be long, so I'm gonna try an' get it done early."

"And I'm bringing Evie," Steve called from the dining room. Soda ignored him.

"Suit yourself. How 'bout you, Johnny?"

"Sure," he said, because it wasn't like he could say no now, though he could think of nothing he would enjoy less than being stuck at a football game watching Evie and Steve make out.

Soda smiled brightly at him. "We're prob'ly gonna leave pretty soon, we gotta get—"

"Are you reading?" Dally had walked in, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He had apparently noticed Johnny's book, and was just as baffled by it as Pony had been. Johnny immediately set it down beside him. Pony scooped it up without missing a beat.

"Frankenstein. It's Sam's," Ponyboy said knowingly.

"Toucan Sam?" Two-Bit clarified. He sat down in front of the television and promptly forgot about Johnny and Sam Dole.

"Since when do you hang out with her, Johnny?" Dally asked, raising his eyebrows. He was smirking. Johnny never quite understood why the gang insisted on addressing questions directly towards him. Ponyboy usually answered for him, anyway.

"She left the book at the lunch table today. And Johnny's going to give it to her at the game."

"Sam was sitting with... oooohhhh!" Something dawned in Soda's face. He broke out in a huge smile.

"What?" Johnny asked finally. "Why is it a big deal? I just didn't want her to lose the book."

But nobody's smiles (or confused look, in Steve's case) subsided. Johnny felt his cheeks twinge, which meant they were definitely turning pink.

"You know, it's actually a pretty good book," Ponyboy said. "Even though the movie was kinda crummy." He was flipping through it, too, pausing once and a while to read the notes Sam had made in the margins.

"Let's hit the road," Steve said, standing up to stretch. "Takin' your car, Two-Bit. Is it here?"

Two-Bit grunted, which Soda took to mean yes. "Where are the keys?" he asked.

Two-Bit muttered something that sounded like, "Ignition," so Soda bounded out of the house and into the car. Steve followed suit.

Johnny knew Steve had waited until Mickey was on to ask (or rather, tell) Two-Bit about his car. You could have told Two-Bit his family was dying and he wouldn't have cared if Mickey was showing.

He stood up and turned towards Pony, holding his hand out wordlessly. The good thing about having Ponyboy for a best friend was that he just understood things.

"Have fun," he said, laying the book on Johnny's outstretched palm. There was far too much innuendo in Pony's voice for him to feel comfortable. Johnny nodded once and headed out the door.

A gust of wind blew by and Johnny pulled his jacket around himself tighter. It was becoming increasingly chilly, especially for Tulsa. He looked up at the sky, which was clouding up and growing darker. He frowned. If it rained, it meant he had to sleep at home. He'd slept on the Curtis' couch at least four times this week already.

He slid into the back seat next to Steve, leaving the front open for Sandy. That meant he'd be stuck in the back with Steve and Evie, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Evie and me are gonna go get seats. Get us some popcorn," Steve said when they arrived at the high school, pulling a dollar out of his pocket and handing it to Soda. He shoved it in his pocket and he, Sandy, and Johnny headed for the concession stand.

Soda and Sandy had started chatting animatedly when Johnny felt a tap on his shoulder. He jumped, startled, and turned quickly to face the tall, blonde figure.

"You just jumped about ten feet, Johnny," Sam said, laughing. Soda laughed, too. Though his cheeks turned a little pink, Johnny found himself grinning.

"Hi, Sam," Sandy, who hadn't been laughing at Johnny's expense, said. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thanks."

"Nice pom-poms," Soda remarked with a crooked smirk, ruffling one of the bright blue and gold pom-poms in her hand.

"Why, that almost sounded dirty, Sodapop Curtis," Sandy said, nudging his ribs with a smirk. Sam grinned, but Johnny noticed her pale face take on a slight twinge of pink. Soda went on to make an unnecessary remark about Sandy's pom-poms, which both Sam and Johnny ignored.

"You left this at the lunch table," Johnny said, handing Sam the very book that had caused such consternation among the gang.

Sam's eyes—the color of basil, Johnny noticed—lit up as she took the book. It was becoming easier to ignore her nose, though he still wasn't completely immune to it.

"Oh, God, you are a lifesaver, Johnny. I thought I'd lost it!" she said, looking genuinely happy. She took the book from him and looked at it for a moment. She looked up at him.

"Have you read this?" she asked.

He was supposed to be in her grade, which meant he should have been reading it. He knew they were reading it for class. But being that he was only a sophomore when he should have been a junior, he was reading Catcher in the Rye. He hated it. He didn't even really understand it.

With all of this in mind, he felt dumb as he said, "Nah."

"Oh, it's great. So much better than that movie with Boris Karloff. The movie hardly even scratches the surface of—"

Her cheerful gushing was cut off when a redheaded cheerleader called, "Sam!"

Sam turned to her, looking suddenly unhappy. "Come on. It's almost pre-game."

She sighed and turned to Johnny. "I gotta go. But I'll see you at halftime, alright?"

Johnny nodded and she smirked, looking towards Soda and Sandy. They had wandered off to the concession stand line. They were laughing about something.

"Tell them I said I'll see them at halftime, alright? I think Cherry's about to use force to get me over with the squad." Johnny looked past her to the redhead, who was looking deeply impatient.

"I think you're right," he said, nodding.

Sam laughed and turned on her heel, trotting away.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Johnny spent almost the full duration of the football game trying very, very hard to ignore Steve and Evie, who were in full-out tonsil hockey mode on his left. Sandy and Soda really did watch the game, when Soda wasn't teasing him about Sam. Johnny just took it with several sighs and a few eye-rolls. He decided not to point out that he'd just met Sam a week ago, and had since seen her two or three times. Not exactly grounds for marriage.

Needless to say, he was enormously relieved when the buzzer signaling the end of the fourth quarter went off and there wasn't any overtime. Nobody had been expecting it; Tulsa had been at least fourteen points in the lead for the entire game. The final score came to 28-7.

Steve and Evie jumped apart at the sound of the buzzer, and stood up casually with everyone else, as though they had been quietly watching the game along with the rest of the crowd. The five of them—Johnny, Soda, Sandy, Steve, and Evie—made their way down the bleachers and towards the stadium parking lot. They were loosely discussing heading to the Dingo for something to eat when Sam appeared at Soda's side.

"Hey, Sam," Soda said, throwing his arm around her shoulders. "You were fantastic. As always." He smiled at her and she rolled her eyes, though she was grinning.

"Wanta come out with us? We were thinkin' of getting some grub," Steve told her.

"No, I've got a curfew," she replied, frowning slightly.

"Need a lift?" Soda asked her.

"There's not really room in the car," Steve fretted.

"I like walking, anyways," she told them.

"Well, you can't walk alone. It's dark. There's all kindsa creeps out there," Evie objected.

"I heard that Motorcycle Boy is back in town for a few days," Sandy contributed. "He's a weird guy."

"We wouldn't want you abducted by the Motorcycle Boy," Soda said, shaking is head in mock sympathy.

"Well, what do you propose I do, then?" Sam asked him, smiling in spite of herself.

"I'll walk with you," Johnny said, surprising himself. The group did a collective slow turn. "If you want."

"Well, that sounds like a swell idea," Soda said after a moment's pause.

They were standing by Two-Bit's car by then. Evie and Steve slid into the back, and Sandy in the passenger's side.

"See you guys later," Soda called with a bright smile, hopping in the driver's side.

They zoomed out of the parking lot without regarding traffic. Soda was a frightening driver.

Sam and Johnny stared at each other for a minute or two before Johnny shuffled uncomfortably. "Well. Lead the way," he said, following her as she began to walk.

"Thanks a lot for this, Johnny. I was actually kind of scared to walk alone," she admitted, not really knowing why she had thrown in that bit of information.

"I was gonna walk, anyway," he told her. After an awkward second, he added, "And anyway, Motorcycle Boy is kinda weird." He grinned at her. Sam laughed out loud, rolling her eyes.

"He's not so bad. A little... withdrawn, I guess, but I don't think he'd abduct an innocent cheerleader. Anyway, his little brother is nice."

Johnny shrugged. He supposed she was right, but he didn't tell her that. He noticed they were moving away from the side of town where most of the Greasers lived. He was hoping they weren't going to what Two-Bit called "Socville." Not that it would have been a pain to get back, but he wasn't exactly crazy about the idea of getting jumped again.

"Where do you live?" he asked her, hoping the answer was not Socville.

"It's not much further. It's in No Man's Land."

Lately, the middle-class kids, who were usually neutral in the great Soc-Greaser war, had been growing tired of being ignored. They'd named their part of town, the middle part that separated the east and west, No Man's Land. It was more convenient than saying, "The middle-class part of town." Johnny felt great relief.

"So, that was some game, wasn't it?" Sam said, grinning. "We totally squashed 'em."

"It was pretty good," he agreed.

"It would have been better if I weren't cheering, though." At Johnny's muddled look, she added, "I can't stand cheerleading."

"Why do you do it?" he asked her. It was unlike him to be talking so much, but he didn't give it much thought.

"Well, one, my mom makes me. Jim was a football player, Lucy was a cheerleader, and Lydia is a junior varsity cheerleader, so she wanted me to do the same, I guess. And, also, it's the closest thing to dance that the school has."

"You dance?"

"Yep," she replied with a nod. She looked like a dancer, he thought, with her tall body and long limbs.

Before he had a chance to respond, he felt a raindrop. Then two. Then it started pouring, as though someone had dumped a giant bucket of water over Tulsa. The two of them squinted at each other through the rain, not knowing what to do. Then, suddenly, Sam laughed and started running. Johnny, also laughing in spite of himself, ran after her.

She took a sudden turn and sprinted up a gravel driveway to a white house that appeared to have two stories. There was a colorful but soaked garden in the front. She bounded up the steps to the porch, finding refuge from the rain under the overhang in front of the door.

Laughing, Sam brushed rain out of her eyes and moved her hair out of her face. She was completely soaked, her bangs plastered to her forehead and her ponytail coming loose. He knew he probably looked similar.

"That was weird," Sam chuckled, looking out from under the overhang. The rain had let up slightly, but it was still raining pretty hard.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"Are you gonna be okay to get home through this?"

"I'll be fine," he assured her.

She was very quiet, biting her lip as she looked out into the rain. "I'm not letting you go back out in this. Just come in until it stops."

Johnny paused, and, mirroring Sam, bit his lip.

Johnny really wasn't keen on walking all the way back to the Curtis house, and especially not in the rain.

What could it hurt to go in for a while?

So he hesitantly agreed. And at her smile, followed her into the darkness of the house.

* * *

_**AN:** I changed a lot, obviously, in the end. Mostly, to move the plot along better and more efficiently. Hopefully you like this as much/better than the original.  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for the Tulsa Titans and The Doles._


	7. Carry That Weight

Chapter Six  
**Carry That Weight  
**_boy, you're gonna carry that weight,  
carry that weight a long time._

"Will your parents mind that I'm here?" Johnny whispered as Sam flicked on the light right next to the front door.

"Actually," Sam said in a normal volume, making Johnny feel like an idiot, "I don't think they're home. They drove Jim back to school this afternoon and will probably not be home until tomorrow."

She opened a linen closet a few feet in front of them and took out two towels, tossing one to Johnny and attempting to dry her hair with the other. Johnny did the same, dabbing his face and hair, though it didn't help much. Sam slid out of her shoes, so Johnny did the same, not wanting to be rude. "Come on upstairs, you can probably borrow something of Jim's to wear," Sam said with a smile, moving further down the hall.

"Oh, that's okay. I'm fine," Johnny declined. He felt like borrowing her brother's clothes would be too friendly, and they were barely even acquaintances.

She rolled her eyes and laughed softly. "Come on, Johnny. At least let me get you a shirt—you have to be freezing."

She was right—he was freezing. He nodded in defeat and said a small, "Okay," before Sam smiled and headed up the staircase at the end of the hallway.

Johnny hesitated; why had he even agreed to come in? He could foresee an incredibly awkward situation, being here with a girl he didn't know in combination with being the most boring person in the world. What was he supposed to talk about? He knew a lot about cars and about fighting, but he didn't know anything about making friends, and he certainly didn't know anything about girls.

He followed her to the stairs, and then up, and they passed a line of open doors in the hallway that revealed empty rooms. Sam turned into one of them, turning on a light. Johnny hovered by the door, feeling like he'd be trespassing if he went in, and studied the blue paint on the wall, the neatly made bed, the various posters of musicians and athletes. There was a line of trophies on a shelf above the bed, Johnny noticed, and some framed certificates of achievement around them. On the nightstand next to the bed was a framed picture of Jim and his date to his senior prom. Johnny didn't recognize his date, but she was very pretty; he wondered if she and Jim were still together, or if they ever had been.

Before he had time to fully mull it over, Sam handed him a dark grey t-shirt and pointed to the door directly across the hallway. "That's the bathroom, if you want to finish drying off and change your shirt. I'll meet you downstairs." She smiled at him again so he turned and headed to the bathroom; before going in, he glanced over his shoulder and watched her disappear into the door diagonally from where he was. Just before the door closed, he caught a glimpse of the yellow walls and wondered what her room looked like.

* * *

They had been sitting downstairs for at least two hours, and the rain just wasn't stopping. Mostly they'd been watching old movies on television, but they talked a little, too. Johnny learned that Sam wanted to be a dancer but that she would probably end up a teacher; he learned that she liked animals, too, but was too squeamish to be a vet; he learned that she, like Ponyboy, loved to read; and he noticed that she was actually pretty funny, in the kind of way that she didn't realize what she was saying was funny until it was out in the open. Likewise, Sam learned that Johnny was quiet and behind in school, but still smart and extremely sincere; she learned that he smiled a lot more outside of school than he did when she saw him around; and she noticed that he always evaded questions about his family.

Sam peered out the window and frowned just a little. "That rain's really not letting up," she said, and Johnny followed her gaze to the window. Sam was now wearing jeans and an oversized t-shirt, her hair drying straight but frizzy, her face totally free of makeup. Johnny was still wearing his wet jeans, but at least had a dry t-shirt. He was sitting on the floor on a towel in front of the couch (he insisted on this, not wanting to get their couch messy) and Sam sat on the couch behind him.

"No, it's not," he answered, uneasiness creeping back into his gut.

"I mean, you could probably just stay here," Sam said slowly after a silence, eyes not looking away from the window. "I mean, no one will be home until tomorrow afternoon, at least. It wouldn't really be a problem."

"Oh, no, I mean.. that's okay. It's let up some. Good enough for me to make it back to Pony's, anyway," Johnny quickly declined.

"Pony's? You mean you're not going home?" Sam asked, finally looking at him. He thought he saw a little redness fading from her cheeks that he couldn't understand.

"No. I mean, I told Pony I'd hang out with him tomorrow. Y'know, both of his brothers are leavin' early, so.." Johnny trailed off, knowing this was a lame and somewhat implausible excuse. Either Sam bought it or let it drop, because she just nodded. Johnny stood up, somewhat abruptly.

"I should go, actually. Don't wanta get in too late. Pony might be worryin'." Sam nodded and stood up, too. "Yeah, okay," she said, sounding suspicious. They both stopped by her front door and stood, facing each other.

"Thanks a lot," Johnny said.

"Yeah, it's no problem," she answered, smiling. "I hate to even see you go." There was a moment where their eyes met, and Sam hastily added, "I mean, because it's still raining. I, uh," she laughed nervously, "I don't want you to get sick or anything."

Johnny offered a small smile. "I'll be fine." He noticed how harsh his slight accent sounded against her perfectly articulated grammar.

"Well, I'll see you in school on Monday, then," she said, opening the door. He stepped onto the porch and she hovered in the doorway.

"Be careful. Motorcycle Boy, and all that." She smiled at him, this time wide and bright, and he couldn't help but smile back.

"I will be. See ya 'round."

He heard the door close behind him and he stepped off the porch into the light rain that was now falling. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans and cast his head down, heading back to the Curtis house. It was a fifteen minute walk back, and by the time he got there his body was catching up with how tired his brain was. All he wanted to do was curl up on the couch and go to sleep, let his brain sort out everything that had happened without him. He opened the front door very quietly so as not to wake anyone up, and closed it equally as carefully. When he got to the couch, he saw Sandy and Soda, curled up together like puppies and fast asleep. For a moment he stared at them, feeling something that he couldn't place.

After a while he resigned himself to the chair—not caring whether he got it wet—and fell asleep almost as soon as he sat down.

**AN **_hey guys, it's been a while! As in, like, two years xD probably none of the original fans of this story are still around here, but I hope they are because what really made me start writing this again was reading all the nice reviews from everyone and remembering how much I love Johnny and Sam as a couple. Anyway, I hope any new readers enjoy this and the previous chapters, and as always, CC is appreciated._


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